On-farm beans research was carried out in Kigoma region, Tanzania. Objectives were to evaluate beans varieties for yield under farmers’ management conditions and to assess farmers’ preferences on beans varieties. Nine farmers from three villages with three farmers per village participated in beans trials. A randomized complete block design with five plots per replications was used to evaluate five bean varieties: Lyamungo 90, Jesca, Uyole 94, Kablanketi, and Kigoma yellow (control). Beans were planted on a 10？m？×？2.5？m plot at a spacing of 50？cm？×？20？cm. Data was subjected to analysis using ANOVA table in GenStat statistical computer software. Three villages × three seasons resulted in nine environments which were used for stability analysis. Farmers developed their criterion to assess the performance and acceptability of beans varieties. Lyamungo 90 and Jesca ranked high and outyielded other varieties with an average yield of 1430.00 and 1325.67？kg？ha？1, respectively. Genotypes sum of squares accounted for the most of the variability (89.12%). Introduction of high yielding bean varieties with the desired farmers’ traits is expected to revamp beans production and contribute to the improved food security in Tanzania. 1. Introduction Common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) is an important herbaceous annual grain legume in the world chiefly grown as a cheap source of protein among majority of Sub-Saharan African people [1]. Farmers frequently use it as a vital component in crop rotation for its ability to fix nitrogen [2, 3]. According to FAOSTAT [4] estimate for the year 2006, world beans production was 1235？kg？ha？1 while that of Africa was 799？kg？ha？1. The average beans yield per annum in many African countries is always lower than that of the world. Lack of improved varieties associated with edaphic and biotic factors has been cited as one of the primary sources of lower beans production [5]. In Tanzania, common bean is an important food and cash crop which is mostly grown by small-holder farmers [6]. However, common bean production in Tanzania is low and does not meet the increasing demand. The average yield is 741？kg？ha？1 which is lower than that found in the developed countries [4]. The low beans yield is mostly contributed by the use of unimproved varieties. Farmers use the locally available varieties with low yield potential. The result is low yield per area and reduced beans production (Figure 1). Figure 1: Yield of beans and proportion area in Tanzania (1997–2006). Source: (FAOSTAT, 2008). In addition to the lack of improved varieties and high seed
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